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Hate group affiliations expose newly elected Arkansas representative

Some Arkansas journalists think that voters in the 26th district where Republican Loy Mauch was elected simply voted along party lines. Arkansas’ 26th district is near Hot Springs, the boyhood home of President Bill Clinton.

Loy Mauch has a long history of racially contrary views in Arkansas. According to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee’s website, Mauch was the leader of the neo-Confederate group League of the South when it went up against the city over a statue of Abraham Lincoln in 2004.

When the city would not remove Lincoln Statue at the Civic and Convention Center in Hot Springs, Mauch led the local branch of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group hosted a seminar titled “Seminar on Abraham Lincoln—Truth vs. Myth.” The keynote address also had a contrary title: “Homage to John Wilkes Booth.”

Mauch, according to the DLCC website, used the Confederate flag to declare Barack Obama an illegitimate president in 2008. Mauch, a frequently published letter writer to the conservative state newspaper, wrote “The government has lost its moral authority over God-fearing Americans.”

Mauch is said to be an active and dues paying member of the League of the South. The League of the South describes itself as a neo-confederate group that wishes to “advance the cultural, economic, and political well-being and independence of the Southern people by all honourable means.” The League of South’s website also defends its use of outdated spellings such as "colour" and "organisation."

The group’s website says that in regards to black people it “disavows a spirit of malice and extends an offer of good will and cooperation to Southern blacks in areas where we can work together as Christians.” The site then acknowledges what it calls historical antagonistic interests of blacks and whites in the South, it also states that a true Constitutional government would provide protection to all law abiding citizens, “not just to government sponsored victim” groups.

Mauch, who is from an isolated, one-highway, backwoods area in Arkansas called Bismark, did not highlight his relationships with hate groups during his campaign. His opponent, Terry Bracy, reported to Arkansas media that he was unaware of Mauch’s involvement with alleged hate groups during the campaign. Mauch had many campaign posters visible in District 26 throughout the campaign. 7,531 votes were cast in the district race and Mauch won by 533 votes.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has a map of active hate groups all over the United States. Texas leads the pack with 66, California follows with 60 and Florida has 51. New Jersey ranks fourth with 44 hate groups, according the SPLC and Arkansas has 24.

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